Peter Walter (c. 1663–1746) of Stalbridge House was a British scrivener and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1715 to 1734. Walter was born about 1663, but his parentage is unknown. By 1694 he was the clerk of Richard Newman of Fifehead Magdalen, Dorset, whose niece Diana he married. By 1707 he had become steward for life to

John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle John Holles, Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, KG, PC (9 January 1662 – 15 July 1711) was an English peer. Early life Holles was born in Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire, the son of the 3rd Earl of Clare and his wife Grace Pierrepont. Grace was a d ...

. Other nobles for whom he acted as agent included the 2nd and 3rd Earls of Essex and the 1st Earl of Uxbridge. At the

1715 general election Events For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire i ...

Walter stood for Parliament at

Bridport Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and withi ...

. He was initially defeated in the poll, but was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

on petition on 10 May 1715. He supported the Administration in all known divisions. He was elected again for Bridport at the 1722 general election. In 1724 he was appointed Clerk of the peace for Middlesex, a post he held for the rest of his life. He did not stand at Bridport at the 1727 general election, but was then brought in as MP for

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. Th ...

at a by-election on 23 April 1728. He did not stand in

1734 Events January– March * January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Province of Georgia, Georgia in North America ...

. Walter made a large fortune by taking up mortgages and then foreclosing on the estates. He purchased Stalbridge and other properties, chiefly in Dorset and Somerset. He became notorious for his methods and was satirized by several literary figures.

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel '' Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

referred to him as ‘Peter Pounce’, while

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

wrote of him as ‘That rogue of genuine ministerial kind, Can half the peerage by his arts bewitch, Starve twenty lords to make one scoundrel rich’.

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

also wrote several lines pertaining to him Walter died on 19 January 1746, and was said to be worth £300,000. His only child, a son Paget, pre-deceased him, and he was succeeded by his grandson,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter, Peter 1746 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 Year of birth uncertain